blackgirl on mars: notes on a life in copenhagen (or how my alienation brings me closer to people).

Here's a film featuring different artists and creators regarding Black representation in Denmark. I'm pleased to have been a part of this project that includes I Am Queen Mary co-creator Jeannette Ehlers, the journal Marronage and Bridge Radio. This program also features some of my poetry.

  Maroon  | məˈro͞on |  noun a member of any of various  communities  in parts of the Caribbean who were  originally  descended from escaped slaves. In the 18th century Jamaican Maroons fought two wars against the British  settlers , both of which ended with  treaties  affirming the independence of the Maroons .-- The New Oxford American Dictionary What is it that you think about when you hear the word "maroon"? Is it the color? Is it as a verb - as in, 'to be marooned'? Abandoned? Or is it in the sense of creating safe spaces, amidst hostile territories in the way many captured Africans and their descendents did in Jamaica and other areas throughout the diaspora?  The fact remains, and we can never emphasize it enough, that the maroon is the only true popular hero of the Caribbean...an indisputable example of systematic opposition, of total refusal.   --Edouard Glissant Danish-Trinidadian artist Jea...

writer, artist, curator Alanna Lockward of Art Labour Archives photo courtesy of Simmi Dullay Yesterday witnessed the kick off of BE.BOP 2016 Black Body Politics: Call & Response.  An Art Labour Project curated by Alanna Lockward, BE.BOP is a loving decolonial space that gathers artists, thinkers, educators and political activists from all over the diaspora (over 20 countries). At last count countries included those on the continent of Africa  (Senegal, Ghana, Sudan, Senegal to name a few), Europe (Sweden, Denmark, Berlin, Switzerland etc.), South America and the Caribbean. This year's theme is that of 'marronage' - stemming from the concept of "maroon" - that space created by our ancestors who refused to be enslaved. What does it mean to create a community amidst the enemy?  The event began with a panel discussion based on the publication of BE.BOP 2012-2014 in Argentina. It includes the work of Erna Brodber, Fatima El Tayeb, Walter Mignolo, Teresa...

I had the opportunity to interview Trinidadian-Danish artist Jeannette Ehlers. We talked about her performance "Whip It Good" and new and upcoming work. Ehlers is currently exhibiting at the McKenna Museum of African American Art in Louisiana.

Like most other major western cities, Copenhagen has increasingly become a more difficult place to find affordable housing. When I first arrived 17 years ago, the neighborhood I moved into was in the process of an aggressive form of gentrification. Vesterbro, a traditionally working class neighborhood in Copenhagen, has now been dubbed "the hipster capital" of Denmark - and rent there, if you can find a rental, is comparable to all the other major cities around the world. Where do all the lower-income residents go? How is the present political landscape contributing to this change? What are the solutions for low-income housing? Are there any?  I know many people, including myself, who are having a challenging time finding a place to live. As luxury buildings are being erected throughout the city it is not difficult to imagine what Copenhagen will look like in a few years' time.  With the so-called financial and refugee crisis, the patterns that are seen in other citi...

Join us on March 10 at 5pm at Copenhagen's Main Library for  talk between four women of African descent living in Denmark. A   discussion bringing forward crucial issues on today’s globalized world. Anna Neye is a Danish actress and scriptwriter. Neye graduated from The Arts Educational School in London (1995) and The National Film School of Denmark (2005). Among other things, Neye was part of the satirical television series Normalerweize as a writer and an actress. Lesley-Ann Brown is a Trinidadian-American writer and educator who currently lives in Copenhagen, Denmark. Brown was born in Brooklyn to Trinidadian immigrants. She is currently working on her travel memoirs about living in Copenhagen. Jeannette Ehlers is a Danish visual artist living and working in Copenh agen. Ehlers graduated from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (2006). In the spring, 2014, Jeannette Ehlers had her major solo presentation, SAY IT LOUD! at Nikolaj Copenhagen Contemporary...

Kendrick Lamar & Tupac interview on a scroll.  Time travels of ancestor rappers, scrolls and revolution. Copenhagen University's Prof. of American Literature at Astrid Noack's Studio  ”Vi elsker juletræer, dannelsesrejser, Eckersberg og Guldalderen, men vi lider samtidigt af et kolonialt hukommelsestab. Mit værk sætter fokus på og fremhæver de dybe kulturelle relationer vores nation har til det afrikanske og det amerikanske kontinent, som fodrer denne økonomiske opblomstringsperiode. Det ligger i vores nationale identitets DNA – selvom vi helst ikke vil erkende det. At det sågar er at finde i noget af det aller dyrebareste vi har, H.C. Andersens skrifter, er et godt eksempel på den hvidvaskning af historien, som kendetegner vores kultur. ” --Jeannette Ehlers "We love Christmas trees, culture travel, Eckersberg and the Golden age, but we suffer simultaneously of a colonial amnesia. My work puts focus on and emphasizes the deep cultura...

audience listening intently at BE:BOP 2014: Spiritual Revolutions and the Scramble for Africa in Copehagen, Denmark this summer.  Once when my child was very young, he asked me, "Mommy, why do Black people smile at each other?" It was a fitting enough observation: Whenever he took a walk with me and we came upon another Black person, a smile would/is most often exchanged.  Intuitively, I knew the smiles were of recognition, not only of our presence here which, especially back then, was few and far between. When you look into the annals of history - when you seek further than the textbooks and narratives insisted upon by the status quo - you learn a lot about your own history. You learn that your history has been buried so that another history could grow up from it, flower from it and in the end, take all the credit (or sun, if we are to continue with this analogy). Founder and curator of BE.BOP. BLACK EUROPE BODY POLITICS, Alanna Lockward & Robbie Shilliam, co...

Jeannette Ehlers from her "Whip It" performance This Blackgirl is in heaven right now. I am so looking forward to this event: Not only because of the subject & content, but due to the fact that I will also be participating. Big up the organisers for making this happen here in DK.  SPIRITUAL REVOLUTIONS & “THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA” BE.BOP 2014. BLACK EUROPE BODY POLITICS MAY 02-31 BERLIN Ballhaus Naunynstraße. With the friendly support of Heinrich Böll Stiftung MAY 15-18 COPENHAGEN SPIRITUAL REVOLUTIONS & “THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA” BE.BOP 2014. BLACK EUROPE BODY POLITICS Thursday May 15 Keynote by Walter Mignolo: Say it Loud!: Re-Existences, Re-Surgences and  Re-Emergences  University of Copenhagen,  Amager Auditorium 22.0.1  16:00-18:00 Say it Loud! Nikolaj Kunsthal Reception at Jeannette Ehlers’ exhibition  19:00-21:00 Performance by Charo Oquet Engungu in White - A Celebra...